NEWS

Yum China, the company behind chains such as KFC and Pizza Hut, introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) agent for store managers on Friday, aligning with the restaurant industry’s broader push towards AI adoption to enhance efficiency. The assistant, named Q-Smart, was an AI-powered management system that enabled natural language interactions with store managers through wireless […]

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is extending its deep-seated rivalry with Meituan to Saudi Arabia, launching a self-operated courier service in the country as it extends its footprint in the Middle East. On Wednesday, JD.com’s logistics arm JD Logistics announced the launch of JoyExpress, a business-to-consumer express delivery service that covers most of the 13 provinces

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up MiniMax, which counts Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings as investors, is moving towards an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong as early as this year, according to media reports. Shanghai-based MiniMax, whose last funding round in March 2024 valued the company at US$2.5 billion, was in the “early

Jointly written by researchers from Huawei and Chinese AI infrastructure start-up SiliconFlow, the paper described CloudMatrix 384 as a specialised “AI supernode” that is purpose-built for handling extensive AI workloads. Huawei expected CloudMatrix “to reshape the foundation of AI infrastructure”, according to the paper released this week. It consists of 384 Ascend 910C neural processing

Huawei Technologies has unveiled the latest version of its proprietary operating system (OS), HarmonyOS 6, new artificial intelligence (AI) models and its CloudMatrix 384 AI rack architecture, as the Chinese technology giant accelerates efforts to build out its in-house software ecosystem in the face of ongoing US sanctions. The company introduced a beta version of

Huawei’s advanced AI chip initiative, however, suddenly faced a major obstacle a year later in August 2020, when the US Commerce Department tightened restrictions by barring the sale of semiconductor products and services – sourced from anywhere with US technology – to the company and its affiliates without a requisite licence. As a result, Huawei

Chinese chip-design software company Empyrean Technology has pledged to become one of the world’s top electronic design automation (EDA) providers, as new US export restrictions bring both opportunities and challenges to the domestic industry. Founded in 2009 and based in Beijing, Empyrean aims to ascend to the top tier of EDA providers, capitalising on the

TikTok, the popular short video app owned by China’s ByteDance, thanked US President Donald Trump, while stating it was still working with Vice-President J.D. Vance who was tasked with brokering a deal under a sell-or-ban law. While TikTok’s fate remains in limbo after Trump offered another 90-day postponement on the deadline for a deal, it

Unitree Robotics, a leading player in China’s booming robotics industry, has completed a new round of financing, attracting investment from some of the country’s biggest tech companies amid excitement surrounding this sector. The Hangzhou-based company, founded by Wang Xingxing, was valued at over 10 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion), according to investors and local media reports.

The first such payment outside mainland China was recently completed in Hong Kong using Meizu’s StarV smart glasses, according to a statement on Thursday by the company, an affiliate of Post owner Alibaba Group Holding. That transaction was made via AlipayHK, the Hong Kong platform of Ant Group’s flagship Alipay app, using Meizu’s smart eyewear